Parker (The K9 Files Book 6) Read online

  “Both of us,” he said. “Let’s just try to get through the day together. Being together will help. And, with any luck, there won’t be any delays, and we’ll be soon on our way home.”

  “Do you think that’s possible?” she asked in a low tone, glancing around. “I have to admit I’ve been worried about that. With this nightmare they could hold us here for days, weeks even.”

  “It’s possible,” he said with a nod. “Hopefully not that long though.”

  She gripped his fingers hard. “I feel like I’ve already been here too long. Let’s pray it goes smoothly.”

  He hadn’t let her hand go. And she hadn’t let his go either. As if, in these circumstances, they were clinging to each other for support. She kind of liked it. But then she liked him. “Our brothers were good friends. You know that, right?”

  “Of course,” he said. “I heard about you a lot from mine. All good things.”

  “I know the military was the making of Jeremy,” she said. “He’d always been insecure and full of self-doubt and worried about his future. But he stepped up and stepped in and never looked back.”

  “I think, like Jerry, it was their lives here. It made them who they were,” Parker said. “In a way, I don’t think they would have minded that they died in the line of fire.”

  “No. I know Jeremy already told me that he’d be happy to die in action,” she said. “It makes me sad. Because it’s almost like he put that thought out there, and the world gave it to him. I don’t want to even think about something like that being possible.”

  “I think it’s a simple case that they were following what was true to their hearts. They lived well, and they died even better,” he said. “We have to give them whatever honor we can for doing that. We’re the ones left behind, trying to live without them, and yet in this mess still surrounding us. It’s up to us to make the best of it and to get home and to carry on.”

  “True,” she said. “But somehow it doesn’t feel like it’ll be anywhere near that simple.”

  He chuckled. “Nothing in the military is ever simple.”

  “Yet it should be,” she argued. “With all the layers of brass and checks and balances, everything should be cut and dry.”

  “The minute you add people into the mix, nothing is simple. Remember that. Just because it all looks like it’s being taken care of, doesn’t mean it is.”

  “I only have to look at the way you’re communicating to understand that. You’re contacting somebody outside of the military to contact somebody in the military to contact somebody here on base.”

  “Because we can’t take a chance. We’ve already flushed out one person who didn’t have our best interests at heart, and that means, after they check that MP’s phone, they should find several more.”

  “That’s a disturbing thought too,” Sandy said. “We really don’t have a clue. Anybody on this base could be part of this.”

  “I know,” Parker said. “So just stay calm, stay focused, and we’ll get through this. Together.”

  He motioned at their barracks. “Let’s drop off our bags and go get some breakfast.”

  “Agreed,” she said. “But, at the same time, I’m hoping you’ll stick close. I don’t want to end up being separated, not knowing what happened to you. After one attempt on our lives, the minute you’re not here at my side, I’ll assume somebody got you.”

  “Ditto,” he said with a smile. “You stay close to me, and I’ll stay close to you.”

  Parker kept an eye out as they headed for the mess hall. Sandy glanced at him. “No guards today?”

  He nodded his chin slightly to the left and said in a low voice, “They’re keeping an eye on us. Don’t you worry. They are just a little harder to see.”

  “That’s kind of creepy.” She slipped her arm through his, stepping that much closer.

  He looked down at their joined arms and smiled. “You can do that anytime you want,” he said.

  She flashed a smile back at him. “I’m sure you have a dozen girlfriends back home,” she teased. “I don’t want to step on any toes.”

  He pressed her arm against his body and chuckled. “Nope. No girlfriend. At least not right now. Not in the last six months actually,” he said thoughtfully as they continued to the mess hall.

  “Wow. A cutie like you? I don’t believe it.”

  “Same for you,” he said. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing over here?”

  “Well, I wish it wasn’t for the reason that we’re both here,” she said, the humor falling away. She stopped a few feet from the mess hall tent and looked at Samson. “We’re not allowed to take him inside.”

  Parker nodded. “I’m not leaving him alone either,” he said, his voice steady. He glanced around. “You go in first and get yourself something to eat. I’ll wait here with Samson.”

  She frowned and shook her head, then gripped his arm tighter. “No. I don’t want to separate. What if we both went in and took the dog to the far side?”

  “Not sure that’ll work either,” he said in a joking manner.

  She looked at her watch. “We are still early. We could just walk through, and, if somebody doesn’t like it, they’ll stop us.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her and smiled. “All they can do is tell us to take him out.”

  They proceeded into the mess hall tent, picked up trays, then plates, and served themselves a hefty breakfast. They didn’t waste any time, moving from one end to the other, poured coffee and proceeded to the far side of the tent by one of the back openings. They sat down with Samson beside them.

  “We should have stopped to get him some food,” she stated quietly.

  “We’ll go to the supply department and see if we can get him breakfast,” Parker said. “Otherwise, gee, poor Samson will have to have a sausage or two.”

  “I think poor Samson would prefer sausages,” Sandy said with a laugh. “But he needs more than a couple.”

  The two of them sat with their backs to the bulk of the people coming through now and kept to themselves, while they quickly ate their breakfast undisturbed. Sandy left a sausage on her plate.

  Parker looked at it, raised his gaze to her and smiled. “Samson?” He reached out a hand and gave it to the dog. It disappeared in two seconds. And Samson looked at them with adoring chocolate eyes, his ears up, as if looking for more.

  She reached down and hugged him.

  “Maybe I should go get him some more sausages?” Without letting Parker answer, Sandy got up from the table and took her plate back to the food buffet, grabbing more sausages and bacon. On her way back, she snagged some cheese as well.

  Parker laughed.

  She shrugged. “We don’t want to be separated from him when he needs to eat,” she said in a low whisper.

  Parker removed the sausage from her plate to Samson’s eager mouth. Halfway through feeding him the sausages, he shook his head. “We might be getting company.”

  “Time to leave?” she asked, her back stiffening, but she didn’t turn around.

  “It’s hard to say.” He picked up another sausage, took a bite and handed it to Samson.

  When the two men who had entered the mess were halfway toward them, Parker gave Samson the last two bites and stood. “Let’s go to the supply office and see if we can get him some dog food.”

  She chuckled. “Like he’ll want that now.”

  Parker exited the back of the tent with the dog, and Sandy cleaned up their dishes and followed.

  As they stood outside, Parker motioned with his hand and said, “Let’s head this way.” Almost like he wanted to avoid the men.

  “Are you trying to lose them?” she asked.

  “Not deliberately, no. But I didn’t really want to talk to the two who came into the tent.”

  “Who were they?”

  “Two of the MPS from last night.”

  “Oh,” Sandy said with a nod. “I don’t want anything to do with them either.”

  At the supply off
ice, Parker stepped in and asked if he could get some dog food.

  The clerk behind the desk looked at him and said, “Paperwork?”

  He sighed. “Nope. Same answer as last night. We weren’t supposed to be here. The dog was not supposed to be here. We are leaving today, but the dog can’t suffer.”

  The clerk frowned at him and said, “I need paperwork.”

  “Okay, so you tell me how am I supposed to feed this dog before he flies out this afternoon?”

  The clerk looked at him, gave him a bland smile, and said, “I suggest you go to the mess hall tent.”

  “You don’t even have any free samples left that Samson could have?”

  At that, the clerk frowned, as if Parker’s words had nudged something. “I might have something. Hang on.” He disappeared into the back, came out with a small six-inch-size bag. “This is the best I can do.”

  Parker took it and nodded to him. “Thanks.” Trying hard to keep his voice from being too curt, he stepped out of the office. He held it up for Sandy to see.

  She frowned. “Not very generous for a dog his size, are they?”

  “Considering that he just ate sausages, it might hold him for a bit. Let’s get him back and see if we can feed him this.”

  Still not stopped by anybody—but constantly under watch because Parker could feel their gazes on him—he led the way back to their accommodations.

  As soon as they were inside, Sandy walked over to their stuff and said, “Okay. Doesn’t look like anybody touched our bags.”

  “Were you expecting that?” Parker asked curiously. He sat down on the bed, ripped open the package and offered the kibbles to Samson.

  Samson looked at him as if to say, Are you nuts?

  “Sorry, bud, but this is all they gave me.”

  Samson grudgingly took a few from his hand, then stopped, spit them out. Parker put the bag in his pocket and said, “We’ll use the kibble later, if we need to.”

  Samson didn’t look impressed with that idea either.

  Sandy hopped up and said, “Let me get him some water. I’ll see if there’s a container in the shower room.” She headed out of their room to the women’s showers.

  Parker didn’t know what she would use for a container but was happy to leave it with her. He settled back on the bed, wondering what the day would bring. There would be a small ceremony at noon, and then they would be escorted back to the airfield and hopefully fly home without any more problems.

  He gently stroked Samson. “What will we do with you, buddy?”

  But Samson stared at the doorway where Sandy had left. When the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, Parker shot to his feet and raced to the door.

  He bent down to Samson and said, “Where is she, boy? Where is she?”

  He gave Samson just enough of a lead that he could follow. Samson bolted for the women’s washroom. As if he knew that was where she’d gone. Parker had enough trust in Samson’s nose to follow.

  As they reached the washroom, a woman came out. He stopped her and asked if Sandy was in there. The woman looked at him, shook her head, and said, “No, it’s empty.” And she walked away.

  Under his breath he whispered, “Shit.” He shook Samson’s lead slightly. “Find her, boy.”

  Samson started to run. Trying to make it look like Parker was out for a jog, he followed along, hoping to not raise any alarms.

  But the alarm in his head was already sounding out loud and clear. She was gone, and he had no clue why or where, but she wouldn’t have left without him if she had had a choice. Which meant somebody had stopped her on her way to or from the shower.

  The dog kept heading away from their quarters, along the fence line to a building in the back. There Samson stopped and sat down. Parker slowly approached, looking in through a window.

  She was, indeed, there, and two men stood over her. She sat with her arms crossed, glaring up at them. As he stepped back, he heard her say, “Where’s Parker?”

  “What’s your association with Parker?” one of the men asked.

  Shifting his angle, Parker could see they were the same two MPs in the mess hall earlier. Frowning, he sent Badger a message, how the two MPs took Sandy away to a nondescript building. He didn’t get an immediate response, but he stood to the side and listened in on the conversation.

  “He’s the brother of my brother’s friend,” she said. “I don’t know him well, only spent a little time with him since we both arrived here to bring our brothers home. Both kind of on an emotional journey that is difficult enough,” she said. “Why? Why don’t you ask him questions?”

  “We would if we could,” one of them replied, “but he wasn’t in the barracks.”

  “I doubt he’s gone far,” Sandy said. “I just went to get a water dish for the dog.”

  “And yet you were in the shower room?”

  “I was looking for water but also hoping I could find something to put water in for Samson,” she explained.

  Parker could hear the frustration in her voice.

  “We wanted to ask you questions about what happened at the airport hangar,” the one said.

  “If you were doing that officially,” she said, “you would have taken me back to your office. Not lead me to a far building on the base where I am now isolated and separated from everyone. I’m still military personnel, you know?”

  “Do you think that’ll make a difference?” the other man said with a sneer.

  At that Samson growled low and deep in the back of his throat. Parker laid a hand on his head, hoping to quiet him. It was obvious Samson didn’t like the man’s tone of voice.

  One of the men asked, “What was that?”

  “Likely nothing,” she said. “It’ll be your imagination, just like all the rest of this is.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re looking for me to provide dirt on Parker. He didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything. We’re both innocent.”

  “That’s what they all say,” he said.

  “Are you guys even sure you’re MPs? I’d like to see your IDs.”

  “Oh, sorry. I left it back at the base. We’re the ones asking the questions,” he snapped.

  “Meaning, you refuse to identify yourselves?”

  Parker could almost see Sandy make a mental note; then she gave a clipped nod. “I’ll be sure to let somebody else know about that. There is a proper procedure to follow.”

  Just then Parker’s phone vibrated. He checked it out to see Badger’s response. You got company coming.

  He stepped off to the side, so he could see who it was. And, sure enough, the colonel’s two personal men appeared, those assigned to them earlier.

  As soon as they saw him, he walked toward them.

  In a low voice they asked, “What’s going on?”

  He pointed to the building. “She went to get water for Samson from the showers, and those two MPs directed her down here. They’ve refused to identify themselves and are asking her questions about the airport. And me,” he said succinctly.

  The men nodded and warned him, “You stay here.”

  They walked into the building as he watched. When they stepped out a moment later, they frowned at him. “It’s empty.”

  Chapter 7

  She couldn’t believe she was being hustled out the back and around to another area of the compound. She’d been picked up by the elbows and rushed out, all the while being ordered to stay silent. That she was in trouble was obvious. Why had she left to get water alone? Where was Parker? Surely he had noticed she was missing already.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  One of the men glared at her and said, “One more word out of you, and you won’t be able to talk again.”

  She struggled to free herself. “Let me go.”

  A hard blow hit her across the face. She crumpled into their grips, momentarily stunned from the blow. Her feet now dragging along the ground were lifted, and they fully carried her u
ntil she was dumped on a cot, and both men stood guard beside her.

  She glared up at them. “This is completely unacceptable.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” one snapped. The two men checked their watches.

  She rubbed her swollen cheek and struggled to sit up. “You just kidnapped me. You know you’ll get in trouble for this.”

  A part of her kept telling herself to shut her mouth because she was aggravating them. Not to mention the fact that dead women left no tales, whereas, if they left her alive, she’d be telling everything she knew.

  In the distance she heard a shout and then sounds of running feet. She glared up at them. “When they find me,” she said, “you have no idea how wrong this will go for you.”

  The two men looked at each other and, within seconds, raced outside and disappeared. She hopped to her feet and ran out. Just as she came around the corner, she was scooped up. She struggled to fight, only to hear Parker’s voice, “It’s okay, Sandy. It’s all right. It’s me.”

  When she realized it was him, she turned, threw her arms around his neck and hung on tight. He held her close from hip to chest. She could feel his heart slamming against his chest, … or was that hers? Then she heard him whispering, “Thank God, we found you.”

  And realized it had been both of their hearts slamming in fear.

  Samson whined. Still in Parker’s embrace, Sandy reached out a hand, and Samson thrust his nose into her palm. She gently stroked him as she hung on to Parker. When she could, she whispered, “Didn’t we promise we wouldn’t get separated?”

  “Yeah. Then you went to get water for the dog. Who knew somebody would kidnap you?”

  She wanted to cry, but, at the same time, she didn’t want to. Still too much anger kept her spine stiff and rigid, while fear kept her arms locked around Parker. When she could, she relaxed her grip and leaned back to smile up at him.

  But his smile fell away when he saw her face. He turned her head to the side and bit off, “Which one of those two assholes did that to you?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Did you see them with me?”

  He nodded. “And, against my better judgment, I didn’t race in because I wasn’t sure if they were armed,” he said. “I was waiting for these two guys to arrive. Big mistake. When they finally entered, you were gone.”